All Living Fear are an English gothic rock band from the South West of

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. The band was formed in 1992 by Matthew North and the core of the band was sealed in 1994 with the arrival of vocalist Andrew Racher. The band were prolific in the mid-1990s British

gothic Gothic or Gothics may refer to: People and languages *Goths or Gothic people, the ethnonym of a group of East Germanic tribes **Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths **Crimean Gothic, the Gothic language spoken b ...

scene and gained a large underground following: their debut single, "Jessica", sold out of its first pressing in just a few weeks ''

Kerrang! ''Kerrang!'' is a British weekly magazine devoted to rock, punk and heavy metal music, currently published by Wasted Talent (the same company that owns electronic music publication ''Mixmag''). It was first published on 6 June 1981 as a one- ...

'' magazine's review comparing Racher's vocals to

Dave Vanian David Vanian (born David Lett, 12 October 1956) is an English rock musician, and lead singer of the punk rock band the Damned. Formed in 1976 in London, the Damned were the first British punk band to release a single, release an album, have ...

of The Damned. "Jessica" was the only release to have a drummer (John Macklin, from the

progressive rock Progressive rock (shortened as prog rock or simply prog; sometimes conflated with art rock) is a broad genre of rock music that developed in the United Kingdom and United States through the mid- to late 1960s, peaking in the early 1970s. In ...

band

Legend A legend is a genre of folklore that consists of a narrative featuring human actions, believed or perceived, both by teller and listeners, to have taken place in human history. Narratives in this genre may demonstrate human values, and possess ...

) and to be produced by Steve Paine (also from Legend). All Living Fear were described by

Mick Mercer Mick Mercer (born Bichael Bercer, 2 June 1957) is a journalist and author best known for his books, photos and reviews of the goth, punk and indie music scenes. Life and work Mercer is primarily a writer focused on the gothic scene and its m ...

in his Hex files book as "The hardest working band in this section" (ref UK Bands) All Living Fear toured extensively in the UK, picking up support slots with major UK goth bands including

Nosferatu ''Nosferatu: A Symphony of Horror'' (German: ''Nosferatu – Eine Symphonie des Grauens'') is a 1922 silent German Expressionist horror film directed by F. W. Murnau and starring Max Schreck as Count Orlok, a vampire who preys on the wife ...

Inkubus Sukkubus Inkubus Sukkubus are an English goth and pagan band, formed in 1989 by Candia Ridley, Tony McKormack and Adam Henderson, who have been described as one of the most enduringly popular underground Goth bands in the UK. They also have been descr ...

, James Ray's Gangwar,

Spear of Destiny A spear is a pole weapon consisting of a shaft, usually of wood, with a pointed head. The head may be simply the sharpened end of the shaft itself, as is the case with fire hardened spears, or it may be made of a more durable material fastene ...

and Flipper. All Living Fear played the first ever

Whitby Gothic Weekend Whitby Goth Weekend, abbreviated to WGW or nicknamed Whitby, is a twice-yearly music festival for the gothic subculture, in Whitby, North Yorkshire, England, organised by Jo Hampshire. Summary Whitby Goth Weekend is an alternative music fest ...

and have played it several times since. The band's first album, ''The Widow's Blame'', had a two-page review in ''

Sound on Sound ''Sound on Sound'' is an independently owned monthly music technology magazine published by SOS Publications Group, based in Cambridge, United Kingdom. The magazine includes product tests of electronic musical performance and recording devices, ...

'' magazine. This album and its follow-up, ''Minimum Resistance'', both sold out of their initial pressings and subsequent pressings were released through Resurrection Records. Racher left in 1998 and was replaced by Paul Roe, under whose influence the band took a more rock-orientated direction. A third album, ''Into the Light'', was released before the band split, with North and Roe going on to form Corrosion. In 2001 Racher and North reformed All Living Fear and released a fourth album, ''Home Too Soon'', which they promoted with support slots for

Wayne Hussey 250px, Hussey performing at the M'era Luna Festival in 2004. Jerry Wayne Hussey (born 26 May 1958) is an English musician who was born in Bristol, England. He is best known as the lead singer of The Mission, and the guitarist with The Sisters ...

, The Damned and

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. In November 2007 the Dangernoise label released ''15 Years After'', a double CD comprising new recordings of some of the band's tracks, some unreleased songs, new material and remixes. It featured guest performances from

Arthur Brown Arthur Brown may refer to: Entertainment * Arthur William Brown (1881–1966), Canadian commercial artist * H. Arthur Brown (1906–1992), American orchestral conductor * Arthur Brown (musician) (born 1942), English rock singer * Arthur Brown, ak ...

(with whom North had worked extensively),

Julianne Regan Julie-Ann "Julianne" Regan (born 30 June 1962) is an English-Irish singer, songwriter, and musician. She achieved success in the late 1980s and early 1990s as the lead singer of the band All About Eve. AllMusic describes Regan as "certainly on ...

, Nick Pynn, Christian Riou (

Claytown Troupe Claytown Troupe are an English alternative rock band from Bristol, England who came to success in 1989. Early history – 1984 – 1988 The Claytown Troupe were formed in 1984 in Bristol by lead singer Christian Riou, who claimed in an ''NME' ...

) and Steve Bronski ( Bronski Beat). In August 2009, Racher announced he was leaving the band after almost 15 years' involvement, in order to spend more time with his family. The band continue with North as vocalist and Guitar, Niall Parker on Bass, Steve Williams (Complicity, Christian Death, Altered States) on Guitar and Nevla (Rome Burns) on Guitar. In 2010 Matthew Announced he was forming a new band Secrets For September and in 2012 via Facebook that the band would reform for its 20th Anniversary for some shows in the Autumn including the

this ended up being a new version of the band fronted by North and also released a new album 'Coming Home' with a cameo performance from

Roger O'Donnell Roger O'Donnell (born 29 October 1955) is an English keyboardist best known for his work with The Cure. O'Donnell has also performed in The Psychedelic Furs, Thompson Twins and Berlin, as well as having an active solo career. Background O'Do ...

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on the last track. North joined the

Mike Westbrook Michael John David Westbrook (born 21 March 1936) is an English jazz pianist, composer, and writer of orchestrated jazz pieces. He is married to the vocalist, librettist and painter Kate Westbrook. Early work Mike Westbrook was born in Hig ...

Uncommon Orchestra in 2014 they released the album 'A Bigger Show' produced by

Jon Hiseman Philip John Albert "Jon" Hiseman (21 June 1944 – 12 June 2018) was an English drummer, recording engineer, record producer, and music publisher. He played with the Graham Bond Organisation, with John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers and later for ...

in 2016. North Released his debut solo album Stimm THINKING? still DREAMING in 2017 on Dangernoise records. In a post to Facebook on 10 December 2016 the band announced a reunion of the mid 90s duo format of Matthew North and Andrew Racher to play live for the band's 25th anniversary. On 11 November 2017, All Living Fear performed with Paul Roe (bass guitar) and Michael Webb (guitar). This is now regarded as the current line up.

Discography

Singles

* "Jessica" (1994) (Pagan Media / Second Pressing- Ossia Germany) * "The Widow's Blame" (2007) (With Arthur Brown iTunes only) * "Twenty Nine Point Nine" (2010) (Download 3 track EP) * "Broken Dream" (2010) (Download 4 track EP) * "Breaking The Fire" (2011) (Download 3 track EP) * "Crimson" (2014) (iTunes / Amazon / Spotify)

Albums

* ''The Widow’s Blame'' (1995) (Resurrection) * ''Minimum Resistance'' (1996) (Resurrection) * ''Vintage Fear'' (1997) (Self Release) * ''Into The Light'' (1998) (Resurrection) * ''Home Too Soon'' (2003) (Resurrection) * ''Fifteen Years After'' (2007) (Dangernoise) * ''Coming Home'' (2012) (Dangernoise)

DVDs and videos

* 'Fear On The Road' (VHS 1996) * 'Official Bootleg Video' (VHS 1999) * 'Video Anthology 1994–2004' (VHS and DVD 2005) * 'Live In Concert' (DVD 2009)

References

External links

Official Site
{{Authority control English gothic rock groups